How many generations back does ancestry analysis reach?

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The analysis does not reconstruct your family tree or indicate the generation in which each part of your ancestry entered it: it compares your DNA with present-day populations. As a guide, it mainly reflects the origins of your ancestors over the past few centuries, because the DNA contribution from more distant ancestors becomes diluted: beyond about 8–10 generations, an increasing proportion of your ancestors will have left no DNA segments in you. 

To be included in our reference populations, a person and their family must have originated from that population for at least the last three generations and pass a quality check. A percentage linked to Italy therefore means that part of your DNA resembles that of the present-day Italian population, not necessarily that your direct ancestors came from there.